


The Test

by solsethegreat



Series: Power Rangers: Monsterhearts [2]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, Blood and Gore, Demon Hunters, Gen, Military, Monster Hunters, Training, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 12:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14472630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solsethegreat/pseuds/solsethegreat
Summary: Jason and Kimberly have their skills as hunters put to the test.





	The Test

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the Power Rangers: Monsterhearts AU. While it's labeled as Cranscott, just note no actual Cranscott happens in this one. This is just one part of a larger overarching Cranscott story.

The streets were filled with blood. Literal. Streaks and smears across the walls and alleyways. They were injured, out of ammo save for one last bullet. Defenseless. Kimberly had her leg mangled by one of those… _things_. Jason helped her into the alley, and when they were sure they weren’t being followed.

“Fuck fuck fuck, this is bad isn’t it?” He said, being careful not to hurt her as he looked at her leg. She groaned and rolled her eyes, keeping a lookout.

“Keep your head straight, Scott. We can win this.” She said, stone cold and serious as ever. 

“Let’s look for a way out. Check that door.” She nodded, pointing forward as she sluggishly slid down the wall, trying to take the pressure off her injury. Jason panicked a bit, gripping his hair as he turned and headed for the door, gun drawn with his one bullet prepared. He yanked it open, expecting to be attacked. Fair since they were everywhere. 

But he wasn’t. It was empty. Quietly, eerily so. It may have been a trap, but it would do. 

“Clear…” He said, turning back to Kim, only to see a small girl with blonde curls staring back at him with glowing orange eyes and a smile stretched too far across her face to be humanly possible. She was one of _them_.

“Help me mister! She’s hurting me!” A voice came out from the monster’s lips that never once moved. Her tiny hands were around Kimberly’s neck, who just angrily glared at him.

“TAKE THE SHOT GODDAMMIT!” She shouted. Jason steadied the gun, but he was shaking. The thing with these creatures was… they _were_ human underneath. They _could_ be saved. The mission was to save who he could when he could, not kill indiscriminately. That would always be the mission. At least for _him_.

“L-let her go!” He called out to the girl. Her lips were unmoving again, but the sobbing continued.

“Help me… I want my mommy!” She cried out. Jason slowly approached. 

“I hear you. You’re just a little girl inside. You’re innocent. I can save you, but I need you to listen to me… I need you to fight it…”

“JESUS CHRIST JASON! DO IT!” Kimberly hissed out. The girl’s face remained creepy and unchanged, but the voice trembled beneath. Like she wanted to listen. Like she cared.

“I...I can’t… it hurts.” She cried. Jason lowered his gun and sat it on the ground, raising his hands as he approached as to show he wasn’t a threat.

“You’re stronger than you know. I believe in you. If you just fight it we can get you out of here and you can see your mommy again.” He said, placing a lot of faith on the idea that he could possibly save her mother too. He was an optimist.

The girl seemed to brighten up, though her face remained unchanged. The parasitic demon controlling her body was still there. 

“I’m trying…” She cried. Jason moved closer.

“...I believe in you.”

Suddenly the voice changed. It was growly and harsh.

“You shouldn’t.” It laughed before flicking the girl’s wrist at a speed he could not stop. Kimberly’s head twisted around with a sickening crunch.

“NO!” He screamed. But soon he was coughing up blood of his own. He looked down and the little girl had punched a hole straight through his gut.

He hit the ground and everything went black.

Then red. Then the lights came on. Kimberly sat up from the table she lay and threw off her headset, grabbing her neck.

“Fucking ouch. Is it _really_ necessary that we have to _feel_ our death?” She grimaced over to Alpha as she kicked her legs over the side and slid off. She was still wobbly from her fake injury in the training program, so she leaned herself against the table until she caught her balance again.

“Commander’s orders. Says it ‘makes it more real’ or something.” A small man in a grey baseball hat with a lightning bolt on it said from the control panel as he saved the recording for them to review later. He spun around in his chair and kicked his legs up on his desk.

“Gotta say, never seen you guys fail so hard in the training sim before. Aye yi yi.” He chuckled with a smug grin on his face. 

Jason sat up, holding his gut. He had a disappointed look on his face.

“Neither have I.” A voice boomed over all of them. The three looked up at an elderly bald man, whose presence alone always seemed to announce itself. He walked down into ‘The Pit’ area of the training room, boots clanging the metal staircase on the way down.

“You hesitated, Jason.” The Commander grimaced.  


“You didn’t take the shot when you had it and it got you both killed.”

Jason gripped the side of the table.

“She was a human, sir. She was a little girl…”

“She was a hologram. But beside the point, she was still a demon. The death of the few save the lives of the many. It doesn’t care what age they are. There may come a time when you’re faced with the same choice. But instead you chose to give humanity where there isn’t any.” He said.

“You’re not ready. I don’t know if you’ll ever be.”

“With all due respect sir…” Kimberly stepped in to try to defend him. She was quickly silenced.

“You used to be my most brilliant soldier. But I don’t know if you’re up to par anymore.” He said coldly over his shoulder. Kimberly’s fist tightened as she fought the urge to say something back. Or worse.

“The two of you are here because you’ve made mistakes. HQ doesn’t think you have what it takes to be assigned a _real_ job. So instead you’re out here in sleepy little Angel Grove trying to figure out why bottom feeders keep dying. It’s basically mall cop duty for the Institute. Some of our colleagues are out fighting real big time threats. It’s my job to get you back to that level. But neither of you are ready. You’re dismissed.” He said, rising back up the stairs and presumably to his office. Kimberly clenched her jaw and leaned against the table next to Jason, who slammed his fist down on it.

“Fucking… what kind of name is Commander Zordon anyway?!” He hissed. Alpha hobbled over next to them and stared up to where he disappeared.

“They say it’s cuz he’s a wizard. From space!” He joked, wiggling his eyebrows. Kimberly scoffed and gave him a slap on the arm.

Jason slid off the table and looked around.

“Well, I have something I gotta do. I’ll uh… see you guys tomorrow.”


End file.
